The restaurants below have been grouped into four different pricing categories:
$$$$ (over SP1,700)
$$$ (SP1,000 to SP1,700)
$$ (SP600 to SP1,000)
$ (under SP600)
This is for a three-course meal per person, including half a liter of wine, which is only available at the more expensive restaurants. Tax and service included.
Club d’Orient
Club d’Orient is a prestigious and glamorous restaurant in the modern town where expensive but excellent French-Mediterranean cuisine is dished out to Damascus’ well-heeled crowd. Book ahead. Alcohol available.
Sharia Mrewed, off
Midan Nejmeh
Tel: (011) 332 7518.
Price: $$$$
Al-Dar 111
Set in a modern multilevel Oriental courtyard palace, the
al-Dar serves delicious Arab and fusion cuisine to a mixed crowd of expats, young Syrians and independent travelers. Food is served alongside a good selection of Lebanese wines and
arak, an anise-flavored liquor Syrians drink with their
mezze.
6 Sharia Assieh, Bab Touma, Christian Quarter
Tel: (011) 542 3232.
Website:
www.aldar111.com Price: $$$
Arabesque
Another converted grand old house with a wonderful rooftop terrace filled with plants overlooking the old city and Mount Qassioun. The
Arabesque makes a change from the normal Syrian restaurants with a menu of pasta dishes, salads and mostly Mediterranean dishes.
Next to the large Greek Orthodox church just off Straight Street, Christian Quarter
Tel: (011) 543 3999.
Price: $$-$$$
Leila’s
This restaurant enjoys a stunning location with a rooftop terrace overlooking the old city and, by night, the floodlit mosque. It serves excellent Syrian food, but not alcohol.
Alley off the southeast corner of the Ummayad Mosque
Tel: (011) 544 5800.
Price: $$
Beit Jabri
This richly-decorated restaurant is located in one of the quarter’s oldest houses. It was built in 1737 around a courtyard with a central fountain and lemon and jasmine trees. It’s a great place to eat cheap but well-prepared
mezze and salads The service is very attentive but there is no alcohol because of the
Beit Jabri’s proximity to the mosque.
Midan as-Sawwaf, signposted in a side alley southeast of the Ummayad Mosque, Old City
Tel: (011) 544 3200.
Website:
www.jabrihouse.com Price: $-$$
Nightlife:Nightlife in Damascus is fairly quiet. Shopping in Souk al-Hamidiyeh (open until 2100) followed by a cafe stop to smoke a
nargileh (waterpipe) and play backgammon, is a popular way to spend the evening. The
an-Nofara, just beside the Umayyad Mosque, stays open late at night and has a traditional storyteller. Damascenes often head up
Mount Qassioun at night to watch the city lights.
Plush hotels like the
Cham Palace,
Meridien and
Sheraton all have bars and nightclubs, but the Christian Quarter, near Bab Touma, is where it’s at, with a cluster of lively bars with dance floors and DJ beats.
MarMar, at Sharia ad-Dawanna, near Bab Touma, is a small but very lively bar with a DJ after 2200 on weekends.
Laterna,
situated behind Cham Palace at Sharia May 29, is a very trendy bar-restaurant while
Tornado, located
10 minutes from downtown on the Damascus-Homs Highway is the trendiest nightclub in town with a DJ playing good rap, hip hop, techno, or Arabic music.
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